L1 Compact - crackling noise

[firemanoly]

I'm brand new to this so let me start by saying I play about 10 to 15 gigs a month with my L1 compact for the last 8 0r 9 years. I absolutely love this system. Recently though I heard some crackling noise coming out of the unit. I set up for a gig last night and during sound check (the opening song) it sounded like my speaker bass speaker was blown. Oh **** right at the start of the gig and I "forgot" to bring a spare PA system with me. Said a short prayer to Jesus and an idea popped into my head. I normally play sitting on a stool and I place the unit behind and of to the side a few feet, and usually set it on a chair. That way I get the best monitor benefits. I only use one of the extension stacks. Done this for 8 years and it gives me the best performance because I play in some tight spots. If I have a larger space where I can put a little extra distance between my and the unit I will put in both extensions. back to my prayer LOL!  A thought popped into my head to try switching out the extension bars. I did it and the "crackling" noise was solved. Is it possible for these to fail or did I just get lucky and bought some time for the problem to raise it's ugly head again? Got me a little nervous. anybody out there have a "wrecked unit" with a spare extension stack they would like to unload? Anyone else have this issue? I love this unit and would buy another tomorrow morning if this ever got stolen or damaged.  It has made my life so much easier and I always get compliments on how great it sounds. I run my vocals through a harmonizer, then into a small behringer mixer, then into the unit. I rune my guitar through a cheap digitech RP 100 pedal and straight into the unit. Great Sound!

Steve (Firemanoly on YouTube)

[John_E1]

You may have lucked out that your problem is contacts and not the speakers. Maybe. You mentioned Bass, but never mentioned whether or not you use the optional sub woofer. Considering you're using a guitar with effects, I would get the sub woofer. Also, I would get some good contact cleaner, one that evaporates. Deoxit products are "the Bose" products of contact cleaning. Those 2 things combined should improve your sound and extend the life of your stack speakers, if they're not already damaged. If guitar feedback becomes an issue after adding a sub woofer, start rolling back the eq around 400hz. That's where acoustic guitars tend to feedback.

[firemanoly]

I use just the base of the unit as a bass speaker and that is where the crackling "blown speaker sound" was emanating from. I will definitely try the contact cleaner and then try that extension again. It has worked beautifully for about 8 or 9 years without a hitch and I play an average of 10 gigs a month with no problems whatsoever. after I switched the extension it sounded just fine. A damaged speaker wouldn't have recovered I don't think, from changing the extension. But I sure appreciate your response and will go out and get the cleaner tomorrow.

[ST - Pro]

Hi, firemanoly.

Welcome to the Bose Portable PA Community.

I hope the crackling sound is just dirty contacts. From everything you've told us, it could be an issue with the contacts in the power stand or the contacts in the bottom of the speaker array (the part you pull out of the power stand to insert an extension).

If the contact cleaner doesn't help, please call Bose Support and they can service the unit for you.  After that, you'll have a one-year warranty too.

Here's the number.

Bose® Product & Technical Support at (877) 335-2673
(U.S. and Canada only)
Monday-Friday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET
Other regions

ST

[firemanoly]

. I went to the local hardware store and bought a can of electrical contact cleaner and went to work, cleaning both ends  of the suspect extension component.  I set up my unit in stages and tried each one for the crackling sound and it never came back. I think I got lucky and happened upon the right solution by replacing the extension (I only use 1 at a time for most of my gigs). The advice to clean the contacts seemed to be the right one. Best price I found for a new set of extensions (no you cant buy just one!) was about $130.  I spent about $4 for the cleaner. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that the problem doesn't return. I thank you for responding with great advice. I am so glad I found this forum. You can check out my videos on youtube under firemanoly. Hope you enjoy. Most are raw videos but some are using my L1 Compact. Merry Christmas and God Bless!